Surgical drape

ABSTRACT

A surgical drape collects the purulent material and body fluids released from an incised wound while effectively preventing spillage into areas adjacent the incision. The drape may resemble in appearance a light weight flexible type of inverted shower cap having a substantially flat bottom and made of a plastic film sheet which is resistant to the absorption of body fluids. An opening in the drape has a size adequate to permit a working area in the interior of the drape for the fingers of the surgeon. A pressure sensitive adhesive coating is applied exteriorly to the wall (bottom) of the drape opposite the opening in order to enable the drape to be releasably affixed to the skin of the patient over the area where an incision is to be made. A protective liner or peel patch covers the adhesive coating until such time as it is desired to attach the drape to the patient.

United States Patent Anderson [451 Mar. 21, 1972 [54] SURGICAL DRAPE [7 2] Inventor: Dale L. Anderson, Roseville, Minn.

[73] Assignee: Johnson & Johnson [22] Filed: Feb. 12, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 10,944

l48,l64 12/1954 Sweden ..l28/l32D Primary ExaminerLawrence Charles Attorney-Harold L. Warner, Michael Q. Tatlow and Robert L. Minier ABSTRACT A surgical drape collects the purulent material and body fluids released from an incised wound while effectively preventing spillage into areas adjacent the incision. The drape may resemble in appearance a light weight flexible type of inverted shower cap having a substantially flat bottom and made of a plastic film sheet which is resistant to the absorption of body fluids. An opening in the drape has a size adequate to permit a working area in the interior of the drape for the fingers of the surgeon. A pressure sensitive adhesive coating is applied exteriorly to the wall (bottom) of the drape opposite the opening in order to enable the drape to be releasably afiixed to the skin of the patient over the area where an incision is to be made. A protective liner or peel patch covers the adhesive coating until such time as it is desired to attach the drape to the patient.

9 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PAHNIEB MAR 21 1912 50 mvsmon 24151. Awazesow ATTORNEY SURGICAL DRAPE GENERAL The present invention is an improved surgical drape for collecting body fluids and purulent material released from an incision in a patient, and for preventing the spillage thereof to areas surrounding the incision. Though not limited thereto, the surgical drape of the invention is especially useful for the incision, drainage and/or irrigation of an abscess and for the removal of a wen.

Known surgical facilities for the incision and drainage of an abscess usually result in a messy situation. This is particularly the case where irrigation is employed to irrigate an abscess cavity. Where the patient is in bed, the known draping procedures usually result in a situation where both the patient and the bed end up soaked with irrigating fluid. Where out-patient surgery of a wen or an abscess is required, as in a doctors office, one of the problems is to keep the blood and purulent material from running down the patients face and onto the patients clothes. As an example, the removal of a wen from the cheek while the patient is lying in a supine position often causes blood to run down the cheek and into the ear. The result is discomfort and anxiety on the part of the patient.

The drape of the invention overcomes the foregoing difflculties.

An object of the present invention is to simplify the draining of a wound while preventing spillage of blood and/or purulent material from the wound to the area surrounding the wound.

Another object is to provide an improved disposable surgical drape which serves as a pocket or receptacle to effectively collect purulent material and blood spilling out or draining from an incised wound.

Still another object is to provide an inexpensive, lightweight, flexible surgical drape which has an area of linerprotected pressure sensitive adhesive material as a coating thereon designed to releasably affix the drape to the patients skin in the area where the incision is to be made, for collecting purulent material and blood escaping from the incision while effectively preventing spillage into other areas.

In one embodiment of the invention, the surgical drape takes the form of a disposable, lightweight, flexible inverted cap with a substantially flat bottom for catching the purulent material and blood which is released from the area of a patients body where an incision is to be made. A pressure sensitive coating or backing of suitable size is applied exteriorly to the substantially flat bottom of the drape which is to be attached to and cover the area of the patients skin where the incision is to be made. The drape is provided with a liner, sometimes referred to as a peel patch or release paper, which covers the adhesive coating until such time as the drape is ready for use. When the liner is removed and the drape releasably affixed to the patients skin by pressing the adhesive coating thereto, the incision is then made through the side of the drape which adhesively adheres to the patient. The drape serves as a pocket or receptacle to catch any purulent material or body fluids escaping from the incised area while preventing spillage into surrounding areas. The drape may have an elastic band, as in a certain known type of shower cap, to form the open side of the receptacle facing the surgeon to permit a working area for the surgeon in the interior of the drape. A draw or purse string can be added to or replace the elastic band for enabling the closure of the open side of the drape when it is desired to remove the drape from the patient.

In another embodiment of the invention, the inverted captype of drape may be provided with a drainage tube in the folded side edge area to permit the body fluid contents of the drape to flow down to a bucket. Such a drape is especially useful where liberal irrigation of the incised wound is required.

A detailed description of the invention follows in conjunction with a drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a top plan view of one embodiment of the drape of the invention with the open side or top facing the viewer;

FIG. 2 illustrates a sectional view through the center of the drape of FIG. 1 along the line 2-2;

FIG. 3 illustrates a front view of another embodiment of the drape of the invention which differs from the drape of FIGS. 1 and 2 in the inclusion of a drainage tube and the provision of a hole in the bottom wall;

FIG. 4, illustrates a sectional view through the center of the drape of FIG. 3 along the line 4-4; and

FIG. 5 illustrates the technique of applying the drape of FIGS. 3 and 4 to a patient.

Throughout the figures of the drawing the same parts are represented by the same reference numerals while equivalent parts have prime designations.

The surgical drape of FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a thin pliable sheet of liquid impervious or absorption resistant plastic material folded in the manner of a well-known type of shower cap having a flat bottom wall 10 folded sidewalls l2, and a circular opening 14 in what may be deemed to be the top wall 16. An elastic band 18, such as rubber, or any equivalent rim surrounding the periphery of the opening 14 serves to gather the sheet of flexible material at the sides 12 to form the caplike drape. This band or rim 18 need not be elastic and can be sewed to the edge of the opening 14 or contained within the rolled-up open edge which, in turn, can be sewed, or if the pliable sheet is of thermoplastic material, the marginal edge of the opening of the sheet material may be folded around the band or rim and the folded-over marginal edge heat sealed (fused or bonded) to contain the rim in known manner. The flexible sheet material is very thin and may be polethelene or the like, of a thickness of about 0.01 inch and preferably such that the caplike drape, when stored or sold, collapses flat so that the top and bottom walls are substantially in contact with 7 each other. A pressure sensitive adhesive coating or backing 20 is applied to the exterior of the bottom wall 10 and this coating is covered over its entire area by a protective liner or peel patch which is readily peeled from the adhesive coating,

as shown in FIG. 2. This protective liner may be made of the same material as the flexible sheet material or may be thick paper.

The relative dimensions of the opening 14, adhesive coating 20 and liner 22 can be varied so long as the opening has dimensions adequate to provide a comfortable working area for the surgeons fingers, and the adhesive coating is sufficiently large to cover the entire area of the incision which is to be made through the bottom 10 and the coating 20.

In one embodiment of the surgical drape of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the circular opening with the rim on the edge thereof had a diameter of approximately 5% inches while the pressure sensitive coating had a diameter of about 4% inches. Other suitable dimensions may be used.

In using the surgical drape of the invention, the protective liner for the pressure sensitive adhesive coating is peeled off, and the adhesive coating pressed against the skin of the patient to cover the area where the incision is to be made. The surgeon opens the drape to the extent needed, inserts his flngers into the drape opening and cuts through the bottom flat wall 10 and through the exterior coating 20 into the abscess or wen to be incised. The adhesive coating causes the drape to adhere firmly and smoothly to the patients skin, thus preventing leakage of body fluids under the drape. The sidewalls of the drape collect the purulent material and blood escaping from the incised wound, and the drape acts as a pocket or receptacle for such released body fluids as well as for soiled sponges and soiled instruments, while preventing the spillage and spread of purulent wound material from the contaminated area of the wound to surrounding areas.

The surgical embodiment of FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 differs from the drape of FIGS. 1 and 2 in three respects; viz, the addition of a drainage tube 24 slightly funnel-shaped at the junction with the sidewall 12', the provision of a hole 26 in the center of the bottom wall 10', and the use of an annular ring of pressure sensitive coating 20' applied to the exterior bottom wall 10' in the marginal or edge area of the hole 26. By way of example only, the hole 26 may be 4 inches in diameter, the width of the effective portion of the ring of adhesive coating 20 surrounding the hole 26 may be 1% inches, while the folded or gathered up sidewall 12 may be 1 inch and smaller than the sidewall 12 of the drape of FIGS. 1 and 2 to thereby provide a larger diameter opening 14'. The total length of drainage tube 24 is such that it can hang over the edge of the patients bed and into the bucket 28. The protective liner 22 covers both the hole 26 and the adhesive coating. This design of the surgical drape of FIGS. 3, 4 and allows liberal irrigation of an abscess without making a mess of the patient, the examining table, or the bed.

FIG. 5 indicates a surgical patient lying on an operating table 32 with the surgical drape of FIGS. 3 and 4 attached to the patient by the adhesive coating 20. The hole 26 surrounds the incised area, and the flow of body fluids from the incised wound is designated by the arrows which show the direction of flow. A nurse or other operating room personnel indicated at 34 is shown irrigating the open incised wound by a spray container 36.

The surgical drape of the invention is not limited to the precise configurations illustrated in the drawing, nor to the sheet material or dimensions recited herein. For example, the flexible bottom wall surface of the drape need not be perfectly flat but merely substantially so. The bottom wall of the drape may have a slightly rounded contour as in the case of a hollow hemispherical object which has a relatively large radius of curvature. Hence, the term substantially flat used in the appended claims is deemed to include a surface having a rounded contour.

What is claimed is:

1. In a disposable surgical incise drape comprising a thin pliable sheet of liquid impervious material and, on the patientcontacting surface thereof, a pressure sensitive adhesive area for adhering to and overlying a wound, the improvement which comprises:

a rim;

the edges of said sheet folded inward, with respect to the nonpatient-contacting surface of the drape, about the rim to form a pocket having sidewalls, a bottom, and an opening peripherally defined by said rim, said opening being of a size to permit an operating work area in the interior of the drape for the fingers of the surgeon;

said adhesive area being located on the patient-contacting surface of said bottom; and

a removable liner adhering to and covering said adhesive area,

2. A disposable surgical drape according to claim 1, wherein said coating and covering liner register with said opening, the material of said opposite wall permitting an incision to be made therethrough.

3. A disposable surgical drape according to claim 1 wherein said coating and liner register with said opening, said opposite wall is substantially flat, and said coating is in the center of said opposite wall.

4. A disposable surgical drape according to claim 1, wherein a drainage tube is attached thereto in liquid sealed relationship for enabling body fluids and purulent material collected by said receptacle to flow therefrom.

5. A disposable surgical drape according to claim 1, wherein said rim is an elastic band.

6. A disposable surgical drape as defined in claim 1, including means for maintaining the opening in a closed position.

7. A disposable surgical drape as defined in claim 6, wherein said means is a drawstring which encircles said opening.

8. A disposable surgical drape according to claim 1, including a drainage tube attached to said drape.

9. A disposable surgical drape according to claim 1, wherein there is a hole in said opposite wall of a size adequate to surround the area of the patients skin to be incised, said adhesive coating covering the entire exterior marginal area of said hole. 

1. In a disposable surgical incise drape comprising a thin pliable sheet of liquid impervious material and, on the patientcontacting surface thereof, a pressure sensitive adhesive area for adhering to and overlying a wound, the improvement which comprises: a rim; the edges of said sheet folded inward, with respect to the nonpatient-contacting surface of the drape, abouT the rim to form a pocket having sidewalls, a bottom, and an opening peripherally defined by said rim, said opening being of a size to permit an operating work area in the interior of the drape for the fingers of the surgeon; said adhesive area being located on the patient-contacting surface of said bottom; and a removable liner adhering to and covering said adhesive area.
 2. A disposable surgical drape according to claim 1, wherein said coating and covering liner register with said opening, the material of said opposite wall permitting an incision to be made therethrough.
 3. A disposable surgical drape according to claim 1, wherein said coating and liner register with said opening, said opposite wall is substantially flat, and said coating is in the center of said opposite wall.
 4. A disposable surgical drape according to claim 1, wherein a drainage tube is attached thereto in liquid sealed relationship for enabling body fluids and purulent material collected by said receptacle to flow therefrom.
 5. A disposable surgical drape according to claim 1, wherein said rim is an elastic band.
 6. A disposable surgical drape as defined in claim 1, including means for maintaining the opening in a closed position.
 7. A disposable surgical drape as defined in claim 6, wherein said means is a drawstring which encircles said opening.
 8. A disposable surgical drape according to claim 1, including a drainage tube attached to said drape.
 9. A disposable surgical drape according to claim 1, wherein there is a hole in said opposite wall of a size adequate to surround the area of the patient''s skin to be incised, said adhesive coating covering the entire exterior marginal area of said hole. 